Remote-access fuel dispenser using data type aware mark-up language

Abstract

A fuel dispenser includes data type aware SGML processing capabilities allowing it to efficiently process received data having a variety of data types. Such received data typically includes fuel dispenser configuration information. Further benefits related to data type aware SGML processing within the fuel dispenser include the ability to transfer information in a data type aware SGML format from the fuel dispenser, such as diagnostics data, to a remote system. Data type aware SGML data definitions facilitate conversion of the data type aware SGML-formatted diagnostics data into a machine format usable by the remote system. Preferably, the fuel dispenser includes an HTTP server for communicating with remote client's systems that employ data type aware SGML-capable, web browsers.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. A fuel dispenser capable of communicating with a site controller, said fuel dispenser comprising: 
       a communications interface adapted to transfer information between the site controller and said fuel dispenser;  
       a communications processor associated with said communications interface and adapted to provide:  
       a) a protocol service operating such that said information transferred between said fuel dispenser and the site controller is transferred in accordance with a defined protocol;  
       b) a data type aware SGML service operating such that data transferred from the site controller to said fuel dispenser in a data type aware SGML format is converted to a native format; and  
       c) a storage service operating such that said data transferred from the site controller is stored in an associated memory in said native format; and  
       a fuel dispenser controller to control one or more operations of said fuel dispenser based on said data transferred from the site controller stored in said associated memory.  
     
     
       2. The fuel dispenser of  claim 1  wherein said communications processor is further adapted to transfer stored data to the site controller via said communications interface in response to a configurable data request from said site controller, and wherein said stored data is converted from a native format to a data type aware SGML format before said transfer to the site controller. 
     
     
       3. The fuel dispenser of  claim 2  wherein said stored data is comprised from the group consisting of configuration data, operating data, diagnostic data, monitoring data, and historical data. 
     
     
       4. The fuel dispenser of  claim 2  wherein said communications processor is further adapted to transfer a stored Java applet to the site controller in conjunction with transferring said stored data to the site controller in response to receiving said configurable data request. 
     
     
       5. The fuel dispenser of  claim 2  wherein said communications processor is further adapted to transfer stored data type aware style sheet language information to the site controller in conjunction with transferring said stored data to the site controller in response to receiving said configurable data request. 
     
     
       6. The fuel dispenser of  claim 5  wherein said data type aware SSL is XSL. 
     
     
       7. The fuel dispenser of  claim 1  wherein said communications processor is further adapted to transfer stored data to the site controller via said communications interface in response to a configurable data request from the site controller, and wherein said stored data is converted from a data type aware SGML format to a HTML format before said transfer to the site controller. 
     
     
       8. The fuel dispenser of  claim 7  wherein said communications processor uses stored style sheet language information to perform said conversion of said stored data from said data type aware SGML format to said HTML format. 
     
     
       9. The fuel dispenser of  claim 7 , wherein said stored data is comprised from the group consisting of configuration data, operating data, diagnostic data, monitoring data, and historical data. 
     
     
       10. The fuel dispenser of  claim 1  wherein said defined protocol is a standard hypertext transfer protocol. 
     
     
       11. The fuel dispenser of  claim 1 , wherein said defined protocol is a standard file transfer protocol. 
     
     
       12. The fuel dispenser of  claim 1 , wherein said data type aware SGML is XML. 
     
     
       13. The fuel dispenser of  claim 1 , wherein said data transferred from the site controller is comprised from the group consisting of configuration data and operating data. 
     
     
       14. A fuel dispensing system comprising: 
       a site controller; and  
       a fuel dispenser comprising:  
       a) a communications interface adapted to transfer information between said site controller and said fuel dispenser;  
       b) a communications processor associated with said communications interface and adapted to provide:  
       i) a protocol service operating such that said information transferred between said fuel dispenser and said site controller is transferred in accordance with a defined protocol;  
       ii) a data type aware SGML service operating such that data transferred from said site controller to said fuel dispenser in a data type aware SGML format is converted to a native format; and  
       iii) a storage service operating such that said data transferred from the site controller is stored in an associated memory in said native format; and  
       c) a fuel dispenser controller adapted to control one or more operations of said fuel dispenser based on said data transferred from the site controller stored in said associated memory.  
     
     
       15. The fuel dispensing system of  claim 14  wherein said communications processor is further adapted to transfer stored data to said site controller via said communications interface in response to a configurable data request from said site controller, and wherein said stored data is converted from a native format to a data type aware SGML format before said transfer to said site controller. 
     
     
       16. The fuel dispensing system of  claim 15 , wherein said stored data is comprised from the group consisting of configuration data, operating data, diagnostic data, monitoring data, and historical data. 
     
     
       17. The fuel dispensing system of  claim 15  wherein said communications processor is further adapted to transfer a stored Java applet to said site controller in conjunction with transferring said stored data to said site controller in response to receiving said configurable data request. 
     
     
       18. The fuel dispensing system of  claim 15  wherein said communications processor is further adapted to transfer stored data type aware style sheet language information to said site controller in conjunction with transferring said stored data to said site controller in response to receiving said configurable data request. 
     
     
       19. The fuel dispensing system of  claim 18 , wherein said data type aware SSL is XSL. 
     
     
       20. The fuel dispensing system of  claim 14  wherein said communications processor is further adapted to transfer stored data to said site controller via said communications interface in response to a configurable data request from said site controller, and wherein said stored data is converted from a data type aware SGML format to a HTML format before said transfer to said site controller. 
     
     
       21. The fuel dispensing system of  claim 20  wherein said communications processor uses stored style sheet language information to perform said conversion of said stored data from said data type aware SGML format to said HTML format. 
     
     
       22. The fuel dispensing system of  claim 20 , wherein said stored data is comprised from the group consisting of configuration data, operating data, diagnostic data, monitoring data, and historical data. 
     
     
       23. The fuel dispensing system of  claim 14  wherein said defined protocol is a standard hypertext transfer protocol. 
     
     
       24. The fuel dispensing system of  claim 14 , wherein said defined protocol is a standard file transfer protocol. 
     
     
       25. The fuel dispensing system of  claim 14 , wherein said data type aware SGML is XML. 
     
     
       26. The fuel dispensing system of  claim 14 , wherein said site controller is comprised from the group consisting of a point of sale controller, a site controller, and a portable computer. 
     
     
       27. The fuel dispensing system of  claim 14 , wherein said data transferred from the site controller is comprised from the group consisting of configuration data and operating data. 
     
     
       28. A fuel dispenser capable of communicating with a site controller, said fuel dispenser comprising: 
       a communications interface adapted to transfer information between said fuel dispenser and the site controller,  
       a communications processor associated with said communications interface and adapted to provide:  
       a) a protocol service operating such that information transferred between said communications processor and the site controller via said communications interface is transferred in accordance with a defined protocol;  
       b) a conversion service operating such that data included in information received from the site controller is converted from a transfer format to a native format based on interpreting embedded data tags included in said information received from said site controller; and  
       c) a storage service such that said data included in information received from the site controller is stored in a memory associated with said fuel dispenser after conversion to said native format; and  
       a fuel dispenser controller adapted to control one or more operations of said fuel dispenser based on said stored data.  
     
     
       29. The fuel dispenser of  claim 28  further wherein said conversion service converts stored data stored in said memory from said native format to said transfer format for transfer to the site controller via said communications interface, said transfer format including one or more embedded data tags associated with said stored data, said one or more embedded data tags selected from a defined set of data tags. 
     
     
       30. The fuel dispenser of  claim 29  wherein said conversion service is an XML service adapted to translate said data in said information received from the site controller from an XML format to a native format, and further adapted to translate said stored data stored in said memory from said native format to said XML format for subsequent transfer to the site controller. 
     
     
       31. The fuel dispenser of  claim 29 , wherein said stored data is comprised from the group consisting of configuration data, operating data, diagnostic data, monitoring data, and historical data. 
     
     
       32. The fuel dispenser of  claim 28 , wherein said data included in information received from the site controller is comprised from the group consisting of configuration data and operating data. 
     
     
       33. A fuel dispensing system comprising: 
       a site controller;  
       a fuel dispenser comprising:  
       a) a communications interface adapted to transfer information between said fuel dispenser and said site controller; and  
       b) a communications processor associated with said communications interface and adapted to provide:  
       i) a protocol service operating such that information transferred between said communications processor and said site controller via said communications interface is transferred in accordance with a defined protocol;  
       ii) a conversion service operating such that data included in information received from said site controller is converted from a transfer format to a native format based on interpreting embedded data tags included in said information received from said site controller; and  
       iii) a storage service such that said data included in information received from the site controller is stored in a memory associated with said fuel dispenser after conversion to said native format; and  
       c) a fuel dispenser controller for controlling one or more operations of said fuel dispenser based on said data included in information received from the site controller stored in said memory.  
     
     
       34. The fuel dispensing system of  claim 33  further wherein said conversion service converts stored data stored in said memory from said native format to said transfer format for transfer to said site controller via said communications interface, said transfer format including one or more embedded data tags associated with said stored data, said one or more embedded data tags selected from a defined set of data tags. 
     
     
       35. The fuel dispensing system of  claim 34  wherein said conversion service is an XML service adapted to translate said data included in information received from the site controller from an XML format to a native format, and further adapted to translate said stored data stored in said memory from said native format to said XML format for subsequent transfer to said site controller. 
     
     
       36. The fuel dispensing system of  claim 34 , wherein said stored data is comprised from the group consisting of configuration data, operating data, diagnostic data, monitoring data, and historical data. 
     
     
       37. The fuel dispensing system of  claim 33 , wherein said data included in information received from the site controller is comprised from the group consisting of configuration data and operating data. 
     
     
       38. A method of supporting intereaction in a fuel dispenser, said method comprising: 
       establishing a communications link between a fuel dispenser and a site controller based on a common protocol;  
       receiving a data type aware SGML data request from said site controller via said communications link;  
       identifying data corresponding to said data request;  
       converting said data from a native format to produce data type aware SGML-formatted fuel dispenser data; and  
       transferring said data type aware SGML-formatted fuel dispenser data to said site controller via said communications link.  
     
     
       39. The method of  claim 38  further comprising: 
       receiving an HTML page request corresponding to a Java applet request prior to receiving said data type aware SGML data request from said site controller; and  
       transferring a Java applet from a memory associated with said fuel dispenser to said site controller in response to said HTML page request;  
       said Java applet adapted to enable said site controller to transmit said data type aware SGML data request to said fuel dispenser and to manipulate said data type aware SGML-formatted fuel dispenser data received from said fuel dispenser.  
     
     
       40. The method of  claim 38  further comprising: 
       receiving an HTML page request from said site controller via said communications link;  
       identifying data corresponding to said HTML page request;  
       converting said data from a native format to a data type aware SGML format, thereby producing data type aware SGML-formatted data;  
       converting said data type aware SGML-formatted fuel dispenser data to a HTML format using one or more data type aware style sheets stored in a memory associated with said fuel dispenser, thereby producing HTML-formatted fuel dispenser data; and  
       transferring said HTML-formatted fuel dispenser data to said site controller via said communications link.  
     
     
       41. The method of  claim 38  further comprising: 
       receiving a data type aware SGML-formatted data set corresponding to said data from said site controller;  
       converting said data type aware SGML-formatted data set into a native format data set;  
       storing said native format data set into a memory associated with said fuel dispenser; and  
       controlling one or more operations of said fuel dispenser based at least in part on said stored native format data set.  
     
     
       42. The method of  claim 38 , wherein said data type aware SGML is XML. 
     
     
       43. The method of  claim 38 , wherein said data is comprised from the group consisting of configuration data, operating data, diagnostic data, monitoring data, and historical data. 
     
     
       44. A method of supporting remote parameter editing in a fuel dispenser, said method comprising: 
       receiving a data request from a site controller;  
       converting stored information associated with said data request from a native format into a data type aware SGML format, thereby forming converted information;  
       transferring said converted information to said site controller;  
       receiving edited information from said site controller, said edited information received in a data type aware SGML format;  
       parsing said data type aware SGML format edited information to extract one or more updated parameters; and  
       storing said one or more updated parameters in a memory associated with the fuel dispenser.  
     
     
       45. The method of  claim 44  further comprising transferring data type aware style sheet information associated with said converted information for use by said controller in translating said converted information into an HTML format. 
     
     
       46. The method of  claim 44  further comprising transferring a Java applet stored in a memory associated with said fuel dispenser for execution by said site controller, said Java applet adapted to translate said converted information from said data type aware SGML format to an HTML format at said site controller. 
     
     
       47. The method of  claim 44 , wherein said stored information and said edited information are comprised from the group consisting of configuration data, operating data, diagnostic data, monitoring data, and historical data.